Great Orme Cave (Elephant's Cave)

[Ian A]

Location
SH 782 830

Directions
Go to the Pier on the Great Orme and park in the pay & display car park by the Grand Hotel (or anywhere near). You will see the cable car station sat up above this â€" take the footpath up to there and continue to walk upwards (towards the ski slope) through the public gardens. The cave is off the path to the left about ¾ of the way up in a very obvious rock face.

Access
None Known

Suggested Equipment
None

Length
The Cavern is about 30 square metres
The accessible phreatic cave passage is around 200 feet long
The inaccessible passage is unknown

Flood risk
None known

Cave Attributes
A Mined/Quarried Cavern (probably limestone) with a keyhole phreatic passageway that enters and leaves the chamber.

Description
The entrances to this cavern are huge and they lead to, basically, one large chamber being a mined/quarried area.

At the rear of this cavern is a keyhole shaped phreatic cave passage which is not tall enough to stand in but is easily negotiable. However, this passage has been blocked with scree, presumably to prevent people from entering the natural cave system which leads into the Great Orme.

Close to the front of the cavern, the phreatic passage can be located again and this can be followed through the Great Orme rock face for around 200 feet until it pops out further along the main face (a very discreet exit).

Unexplored Passges
The "filled" back passage

Digs
None known.

Links
None Known

[Ian A]

The entrance as seen from the approach





Another two entrances as seen from within





The phreatic passage




The phreatic passage




The discreet exit




The phreatic passage at the rear of the cavern




The rear passage is full of scree (blocked)